Some wireless communication networks, such as the iDEN network owned and operated by Sprint Nextel Communications, Inc., can provide two different types of voice communications services, i.e., interconnect and dispatch. An interconnect communication is what is conventionally, considered “cellular communications,” while a dispatch communication is commonly known as a walkie-talkie or push-to-talk (PTT) type of call such as Sprint Nextel's service identified by the trade name Direct Connect.
Dispatch calls can be private calls or group calls. A dispatch private call is between two dispatch stations, and a dispatch group call is between more than two dispatch stations.
Qualcomm Incorporated provides a dispatch communication service known as QChat for use in 3G CDMA networks, for example. QChat uses standard voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies, in which voice information is sent in a digital form in data packets over IP-based data networks. QChat allows end users to set up ad hoc group calls from a handset. To make an ad hoc group call, a user selects all of the invitees from a user interface on the handset and presses a dispatch call button to initiate the call. One problem with the current QChat system for terminating ad hoc group calls is that it allows a call to continue after the originator of the call drops from the call. This can result in unbounded financial liability to the originator. The present invention addresses this problem by providing termination options.